Tis the Day (360)

Christmas day always feels dream-like. Beautiful sparkly snow and ice cycles- no cold just the glorious sparkles all around. Voices and laughter seem louder and more excited than normal. The piles of wrapping paper seem purposeful and thus, there is no urgency to clean up. The tree smells more like pine. The ornaments are more colorful.

It is a magical scene right out of Frozen. Olaf singing a glorious tune. Orchestral music carrying a sense of calm and love through the air. Nothing seems out of place. Everything feels just right. Like nothing can bring you down. That this day, this wondrous, whimsical day trumps all other days. Like the rest of 2020 didn't unfold as it did.

That December the 25th is a day to be treasured, experienced separate from the other 364 days of the year. And as you are fulfilling the days quota of happiness and warm regards- you do not see it as a a mist of wishes and hopes. You only live it as the perfect day. The family filled, everyone is home and together, day.

Then at the end of a dream-like state- the last of the cookies eaten, the room clean, the tree no longer atop a mound of wrapped boxes- you reflect. You lay in bed, watching the sparkling, flickering lights of the tree on the ceiling- and you take it all in. You breathe in the pine and cinnamon aroma of holiday candles. You smile at the moments you can now add to your long-term files. 

And... it all becomes less like a blanket of fresh snow, and more like any other day. A special day. A celebratory day. A family day. But just a day and not a fantasy. This is the moment I take it all in. See the edges. Remember the facial expressions as boxes were opened and stockings dumped out into a pile. And this is the moment I am truly thankful for- because this is the moment magical holiday, snow globe, memories become reality.

I like my reality. It can be bumpy. But I like the daily experiences- spilt milk and lost socks. I love it in fact and this day- this tis the day to be jolly- was jolly. And twas' the day of family and pure joy. Being together made it that way. Tomorrow we will have moments too and the day after that. My heart is full at this moment- before I fall asleep- and for that I am truly thankful.